1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a size-reduction or shredding apparatus, especially for twigs and branches of trees and shrubbery; the apparatus is provided with a loading chute, a chopping chamber having a chopping blade which rotates about a verical axis, a shredding chamber having a cutting blade which rotates about a vertical axis, a feed tube which opens into the shredding chamber, a drive motor, and a respective discharge conduit or chute for each of the chopping and shredding chambers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pursuant to one known apparatus of this general type, the chopping blade and the shredding blade are both secured on the same vertical shaft. The chopping chamber and the shredding chamber are therefore disposed one above the other, with the shredding chamber and its cutting blade being provided directly below the chopping chamber. The discharge conduits for the chopping chamber and for the shredding chamber open into a common discharge chute, the discharge opening of which is only a small distance from the ground, so that only a relatively small receptacle can be placed below the shoot for receiving the chopped and shredded material. Thus, the receptacle has a correspondingly small holding capacity, so that in a short period of time it is filled to such an extent that the chute can become clogged. A further drawback is that cleaning and servicing the chopping and shredding chambers, which are disposed one above the other, is difficult due to the poor accessibility. Yet another drawback is that the apparatus must be taken apart in order to replace the cutting blade.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to design a size-reduction apparatus in such a way that not only is better accessibility to the operating parts assured, but a trouble-free operation is also assured.